The Lich of Glory Knight Spirit: Moving towards Krimasha!
Chapter 303 - 40: Goblin Kingdom (2)_2

Chapter 303: Chapter 40: Goblin Kingdom (2)_2

"So, what do we do now?" Jones widened his eyes.

"I realized this place doesn’t seem very suitable for doing business."

"You’re just now realizing this place isn’t suitable for doing business?"

"How about coming to my place instead?"

"Your place?"

"Yes, my place."

Jones thought about the tiny house he had seen when they arrived, nodded heavily, and said, "Alright."

...

About half an hour later, in an open underground space.

Jones felt his heart almost leap out of his chest. His eyes were wide, and red veins spread across them.

Dora was covering her nose, clearly troubled by the pungent smell in the air.

As for Gula, he just stood there, grinning widely at Jones, revealing a mouthful of crooked teeth.

All around them... well, let’s just say they were completely surrounded by a thick wall of goblins. Calling it a "circle of goblins" would be polite—it was literal walls of goblins piled up by stepping on one another. The shaky structure appeared ready to collapse at any moment, potentially burying Gula, Jones, and Dora alive.

Dozens of goblin eyes were glaring directly at Jones.

"Didn’t you say... we were going to your place?"

"This is my place."

"THIS is your place? But there’s nothing here."

"Does a ’home’ have to have something? In the common tongue, a ’home’ means a place where one resides, especially for sleeping. I live here, I sleep here. So of course, this is my home."

"But every place here looks the same. How can you tell this is yours?"

"Can’t you smell me? Every inch of this land has the scent of my urine."

"Every inch..." Dora quickly raised one foot in panic but then hesitated and reluctantly set it back down, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

Jones glanced nervously around and asked in a low voice, "So... how do you sleep here? You said you sleep in this spot. But there’s no bed, no blanket."

"I dig a hole and bury myself in it. Keeps me very warm."

"Don’t you need to breathe?"

"I can leave my head sticking out." As he spoke, Gula even demonstrated right on the spot. "If I get hungry, I can also nibble a little. So convenient! Not every goblin has a fixed resting place as luxurious as mine. You have to make great contributions to the kingdom to earn this privilege."

Jones looked like he was about to vomit.

Urinating everywhere, covering oneself in dirt soaked with one’s own urine as bedding... Oh, and then eating it...

Goblins truly were a miraculous species, completely defying all common sense. To survive like this, their vitality must be out of this world.

"What were they just saying? Why were they so excited?"

"They realized an outsider has arrived and guessed you’re a Slave Merchant. They hope you’ll choose them."

"Uh... hoping I’ll choose them? Wait, are they all slaves?"

"No, not yet. But if you choose them, then they will be. If you do, they’ll get to leave this place, so they’re all very excited."

"I don’t get it. Are you saying they actually WANT to become slaves?"

"Yes." Gula nodded firmly.

Jones felt his brain stall for a moment.

It took him a long time to process what he had just heard. Then he grabbed Dora, intending to pull her aside for a private conversation, but quickly realized there was nowhere to go—the goblins’ encirclement was airtight, and countless pairs of pitch-black eyes were staring at them. With no choice, he gritted his teeth and began talking where they stood.

"To be honest, my initial thought was, if we could establish a trade route to this place, maybe we could do some business with them. Sell them stuff or something. But now it seems they don’t need anything except someone to buy them. Slaves are so cheap that I think I could buy a large batch. Then maybe we put them to work building roads. What do you think of this idea?"

"Lord Jones, Dora doesn’t think it’s a good idea." Dora shook her head frantically, looking on the verge of tears. "By then, Giant Snake City will be swarming with goblins! I feel like they’re... they’re like a plague."

"No, they won’t. Plenty of people use goblin slaves, and we don’t see goblins everywhere, do we? They can help us build roads. What we need most right now is infrastructure. The key is, they’re incredibly cheap."

"But... how do you plan to transport them there?" Dora frowned so deeply it looked like her face might squeeze out water. It was clear she had a thousand, no, ten thousand objections.

But Jones remained adamant: "We can figure out a way. It’s not that hard, is it?"

"Yes! Not hard at all!" Gula suddenly chimed in excitedly, poking his head into the conversation. "We’re experts at building roads, I swear!"

Dora yelped in shock and instinctively stepped back, only to bump into the "goblin wall" behind her. She screamed outright.

"Wait a minute, I’ve got an idea!" Jones suddenly burst into a grin, his face lighting up with excitement. "Why are we even thinking about transporting them to Giant Snake City? Our goal is to build roads, right? So why not just start the road-building project from their Goblin Kingdom? Build the road from here! By the time the road’s finished, it’ll naturally connect! No transportation issues at all! Perfect!"

Dora was stunned.

Turning to Jones, she saw his face glowing with enthusiasm as he looked at Gula. "They all want to become my slaves and leave here, right?"

"Yes."

Jones pulled out a handful of Gold Coins from his pocket and scattered them in front of Gula with a clink. "In that case, I’ll take every single one of them!"

"Every single one?" Gula’s eyes went wide as saucers.

"Yes, every single one. Every goblin, including you! These Gold Coins are the down payment!" Jones glanced around, searching for a higher vantage point but found none. Resigned, he stood firmly where he was, cleared his throat, and declared in a loud voice, "My dear subjects! I am your lord, Jones Dracula, the City Lord of Giant Snake City! From this day onwards, you shall become my people!"

After finishing his proclamation, Jones turned toward Gula expectantly.

All the goblins gathered around turned their gazes to Gula as well.

Silence. A long, awkward silence.

"Why aren’t you translating?"

"Uh... I can’t translate that."

"Why not?"

"The goblin language doesn’t have those complicated words."

"Then what CAN you translate?"

"Something like: Follow him, work hard, get food."

"But I thought you guys eat dirt?"

"That’s the wild goblins! Domesticated goblins are noble beings; we don’t stoop to eating dirt. We love eating chickens. You know, the ones with wings." As he spoke, Gula flapped his arms like chicken wings and hopped around Jones.

The other goblins, as if infected by Gula’s antics, started imitating chickens too, making loud "cluck cluck cluck" sounds.

Gula planted his hands on his hips, raised one finger dramatically, and exclaimed, "One chicken per day!"

The surrounding goblins all erupted in cheers, some even drooling. Their eyes spun with greedy fervor as they stared at Jones.

Jones’s face froze, and his previously excited expression slowly disappeared.

Alright, so that’s how it is. Clearly, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Goblins were cheap, but feeding them wasn’t. Transporting a truckload of chickens here? That’s a joke. He’d go bankrupt! And where would Jones find hundreds of thousands of chickens every day?

The grand road-building plan officially died due to lack of funds. Farewell!

Jones bent down silently, preparing to pick up the Gold Coins he had just thrown.

Gula quickly blocked his way. "What are you doing?"

"I’m calling it off, thanks. I don’t have chickens."

"We can eat other things, too. As long as it’s not dirt."

"Anything but dirt, and I still can’t afford to feed you! I’m not buying!"

"No, you’ve already bought us, so you’re responsible for us now."

"There’s a word for ’responsibility’ in goblin language?"

"Of course!" Gula said solemnly. "And I’ve already announced the news. You can’t back out now, or you won’t be able to leave!"

"Don’t try to trick me! You didn’t even speak a word of goblin just now!"

"Bladoo! Ka-kakakuyo!"

In an instant, the surrounding goblins erupted into cheers loud enough to shake the entire underground space. It was like an earthquake roaring through.

Gula turned back to Jones with a "wicked" smile. "There you go. Now I’ve said it."

Jones’s face turned green, the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.